Are the Texas Rangers running out of trade options?

Heath Bell is now the primary target for the Rangers. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images North America)

For the Texas Rangers, it’s gotten to the point where manager Ron Washington is calling for his front office to give him some help. He told the media that he needed reinforcements and while he went with the politically correct answer of, “if nothing is done it’s because there was nothing there to do,” you could tell by Washington’s tone that he wants a move to be made.

Closer Neftali Feliz has all but lost the confidence of his manager to be the guy he hands the ball to in the ninth inning. That would lead anyone to think that the Rangers and their front office need to look for a new closer. A guy who can come in to a game in the ninth inning with the confidence to shut the door every time they go out there.

If you talk to some of the media in San Diego, there has always been the feeling that Bell was going to end up staying in San Diego as a Padre. He’s made it clear that he would be willing to take less to remain with the team through this season and beyond.

According to CBS Sports’ Scott Miller, a source told him the Padres believe they can hang on to their closer and sign him to a new deal at a discounted rate.

While this could just be posturing by the Padres’ front office to throw some teams off the trail, their sentiment matches up with some of the things Bell has already said on the record.

It won’t chase the Rangers off the trail just yet as they are one of the lead dogs in the race to land him. At least for now.

Last week, there was an article from Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan talking about a conversation San Diego Padres’ reliever Mike Adams had with team owner, Jeff Moorad. According to a source who spoke with Passan, Moorad apparently told Adams the team was not going to trade him.

Regardless of that article, Adams was still acting like someone who was about to be traded. I talked to sources close to the Padres who said Adams had put in an application for a passport, something he would need if he were to be traded to an American League team due to having to play in Canada against the Toronto Blue Jays.

If in fact he were told, “you aren’t going to be traded,” why would he need to get a passport?

If the Padres think they can keep Bell as well as the belief they can get more in return for Adams, it seems like they could be ready to trade their set up man and not their closer.

Hiroki Kuroda Likes Los Angeles

We knew Los Angeles Dodgers’ right hander Hiroki Kuroda had a no-trade clause and could veto any trade that was brought to him.

At first the indications were Kuroda was not interested in playing on the east coast which included the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.

A few weeks later, that tune seemed to change as Kuroda was all the sudden open to accepting a trade to either one of those teams. Music to the ears of the Yankees because he’s a guy who fits what they would want.

Now, a quote from Kuroda this morning tells a completely different story. “I can’t fathom wearing another uniform than the Dodgers uniform right now,” Kuroda told MLB.com.

The Texas Rangers were one team who had interest in him and, after this quote, maybe it’s time to look elsewhere.

Rangers Running Out of Options

Carlos Beltran is now a member of the San Francisco Giants, Hiroki Kuroda wants to stay in Los Angeles, and Heath Bell could re-sign a new deal with the San Diego Padres.

Three names the Texas Rangers really wanted and three names who could be scratched off the list. While there are still names left, there aren’t a lot of guys who make you stand up and take notice.

Todd Kaufmann is a freelance writer who, since moving to Texas in 2008, has covered everything from minor league baseball, the PGA Tour, college football, to the Texas Rangers themselves. He and his wife currently reside near Mansfield, Texas with their yellow lab ironically named...Ranger. You can follow him on Twitter @T_Kaufmann as well as on Facebook